He studied under his uncle
Willem van der Vliet and was admitted to the painters guild in Delft in 1632. He was good at perspective but later took up portrait painting with
Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt. Van Vliet started out with
architectural painting, particularly the painting of church interiors. Before him, architectural painting had been pioneered by
Pieter Saenredam, who introduced innovative techniques of perspective. By mid century, architectural painting gained great popularity. Among the churches painted by Van Vliet are the
Pieterskerk (Peter's Church) in
Leiden, the
Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in Delft, and the
Oude Kerk (Old Church) in Delft (Van Vliet would be buried in the latter in 1675).
Emanuel de Witte and
Gerard Houckgeest, also painted these Delft church interiors. Paintings of the tomb of
William the Silent were quite popular. ==Works==